Automatic safety aeroplane-controller



W. 0. AND H. A. KEELING.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY AEROPLANE'CONTROLLERA APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, I919-Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

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WITNESS W. 0. AND H. A. KEELING.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY AEROPLANE CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1919. 1,360,756. Patented Nov. 30,1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM OREN' KEELING AND HARVEY Al KEELIN G, 01 FRANKLIN, INDIANA,

AUTOMATIC, SAFETY AEROPLANE-CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patent d N 30 192 Application filedNovember 25, 1919'. Serial No. 840,667.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that we, WILLIAM (.)REN KEELING and HARVEY A. KEELI'NGcitizens -of the United States-residing at 1i ranklin,

in the county of Johnson and State of Indiana, have invented a new anduseful Automatic Safety Aeroplane-Controller, of which the following isa specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and tothe letters and; figures of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to a safety appliance clouds when the aviator mayhave nofixed objects in View whereby to determine whether the aeroplaneis overturning or dangerously tilting so as to be liable to plunge tothe earth.

An object of the invention is to provide a safety appliance for theprotection of aviators when operating under difiicult conditions, andwhich shall be so constructed as to automatically operate to save lifein case the aviator loses control orbecomes physically incapable ofcontrolling the aeroplane.

Another object is to provide an automatic safety aeroplane controllerwhich shall be so constructed as to positively operate automatically forthe above-mentioned pur oses the controller to guide and change thecourse of the aeroplane in the operation thereof. ,A further: object isto provide an automatic safety aeroplane controller of reliable andsimple construction, which shall be adapted to be applied to not onlynewbut to old aeroplanes inexpensively, and which shall be durable andeconomical in use.

With the above-mentioned and other objects in view, the inventionconsists in -a gravity-controlled power device, and movable means on anaeroplane connected with v and controllable either by the power. deviceor arbitrarily by hand, to control the aeroplane and prevent it fromplunging to'earth either forwardly or sidewise; and, the inventionconsists also further in the arts and combinations and arrangements 0parts as hereinafter particularly described and further defined in theappended claims.

Referri to the drawings,-Eigure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectionalelevation showing the principal portions of an aeroplane having theinvention applied thereto, the aeroplane and the safety appliances belngshown bybroken lines approximately as they would appear when theaeroplane is about to be righted oi: leveledafter having been tiltedforward by a violent wind, or from other cause; Fig. 2 is a front view,partially in cross section, showing the prin-: c pal structural featuresof the aeroplane havlng the invention applied thereto; the aeroplane andthe safety appliance being shown by broken lines approximately as theywould appear when the aeroplane is about to be rlghted or leveled afterhaving been partially turned over sidewise, Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryvertical longitudinal sectional elevation of the aeroplane and thesafety imilar reference characters in the -different figures of thedrawings indicate corresponding elements or features-'of-constructionherein referred to in detail.

For descriptive purposes the invention is illustrated as app ied to anaeroplane of familiar type, and inconnection with handoperatedcontrolling apparatus comprised in such aeroplane.

In the aeroplane ,above-mentioned is a fuselage havllfi a' bottom 1,sides 2 and 3 and a top 4. e aeroplane hasja top plane panels orsections, and lower planes or wings on its rear end, and the interiorofv the fuselage has an operators seat 9 arranged in a suitableposition. A steering lever 10 is pivotally'supported between its ends inproxlmity to the operators seat and has cables 11 and 12 connectedthereto and with arms or horns on o posite sides respectively of therudder. he rear end of the fuselage has also a pair of elevator flaps13, that are hinged so as to swing relatively upward or downward, toguide the aeroplane upwardl or downwardly. Inside the fuselage a sha t14 is rotatably supported and has levers 15 and 16 secured between theirends to the shaft so as to constitute upper arms and lower arms, cables17 being connected with the upper arms and with suitable arms or 5, moretechnically described as top wing horns on the upper side of theelevator flaps, other cables 18 being connected with the lower arms ofthe levers and also with ed upon the plane 5 in proximity to theailerons respectively and they guide a cable having a portion extendingfrom one to the other of the sheaves, and portions 26 and 27 extendingfrom the sheaves to the arms or horns 21 on the ailerons respectively,so that when either aileron is moved downwardly, the opposite one ispulled upwardly. Other guide sheaves 28 and 29 are mounted on the underside of the plane 5 in proximity to the ailerons respectively, acontrolling cable 30 leads to the sheave 28 and has-a portion 31connected with the arm or horn 22, and

another controlling cable 32 leads to the sheave 29 and has a portion 33connected to the arm or horn 22 on the underside of the other aileron20.

A rock shaft34 is longitudinally arranged in the fuselage and supportedby suitable bearing members 35 and 36 and it has a pulley segment 37secured thereto which preferably has grooves 38 and 39 in its peripheralportion. The cable 30 extends into one of the grooves and is secured tothe segment, the cable 32 extending into the other groove and beingsecuredto the opposite side of the segment, so that when the rock-shaftis turned in one direction one of the controlling cables 'is drawn overthe segment to swing one 'of the ailerons, and when turned in theopposite direction the other controlling cable is drawn over the segmentto swing the opposite one of the ailerons downwardly and permit theother one to be swung-upwardly by the connecting cable on the top of theupper plane.

An important feature of the invent1on comprises a pendulum arm or lever40 which has an aperture 41 therein through which the rock-shaft 34extends, and a pivot 42 extending through the aperture and transverselythrough the rock-shaft, whereby the pendulum arm or. lever is permittedto swing on the rock-shaft and'also enable it to prevent rotarymovementof the rock-shaft. In the present case the bottom 1 of the fuselage hasan aperture 43 therein which has angled corner portions 44, and the armor lever 40 is arranged so as to extend through the incense aperture andto be limited in its movements by contact with the edge portions of theaperture. The lower end of the pendulum arm or lever has a weightelement 45 thereon designed to insure constant vertical or plumbposition of the pendulum arm or lever when not manually controlled. Theupper portion of the arm or lever 40 has a handle or lever portion 46rigid thereon whereby the pendulum arm or lever may be swung orcontrolled when desired to purposely change the aeroplane course inoperation. The rearward side of the arm or lever 40 has a universalcoupling 47 mounted thereon, so as to be below the rock-shaft 34 and aconnecting rod is connected therewith which preferably comprises asection 48 to which a turn-buckle 49 is connected and a section 50connected with the turn-buckle, the section 50'bei'ng connected with auniversal coupling 51 that is mounted on the forward side of an arm orboss 52 fixed on the upper portion of the shaft 14, so that the pendulumarm or lever shall have control of the elevator flaps.

' In orderto guard and protect the pendulum or gravity device, which isthe prime controller element of the safety device, the fuselage has adrop bottom portion to inclose the weight and lower portion of the armor lever 40, and may comprise a separate box or casing 53 secured to thebottom 1 and inclosing the lower' portion of the gravity elements,especially so as to protect them when the aeroplane is on or near tothe.

ground.

In practical use the aeroplane is steered to the right or to the left asis usual and may be guided upwardly or downwardly by means of the handleor lever arm 46 in the customary manner. When the handle or lever 46 isreleased the aeroplane may. fly on a level course and if slightly tiltedforwardly or sidewise will be automatically righted by the automaticcontroller which will remain plumb while the fuselage is tilted,resulting in the elevator flaps being swung upwardly in case theaeroplane starts on a nose dive, the flaps causing the forward end ofthe aeroplane to be directed upwardly; and in case the aeroplane isturned over sidewise from level position the automatic controller willcause the operation of the ailerons so that the same result will beobtained as when the controlling cables 30 and'32 are intelligentlycontrolled through the means of the hand lever customarily provided formanual operation of the ailerons. The automatic controller operatessensitively so that when the aeroplane slightly turns sidewise theailerons are swung so as to be affected by their contact with theatmospheric air in a manner to automatically right the aeroplane orprevent it from tilting sufficiently to cause a side plunge to earth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In anautomatic safety aeroplane controller, the combination witharotativelysupported longitudinal rock-shaft, and a rotatively-supportedtransverse rock-shaft with upperand lower arms thereon and cablesconnected to the arms respectively, of a boss fixed on the uppermostportion of the transverse rock-shaft, a pendulum lever pivoted to thelongitudinal rock-shaft with a hand-lever fixed on the pendulum levr, aweight element fixed on the pendulum lever, and a connecting rodpivotally connected with the pendulum lever between the longitudinalrock-shaft and the weight element and connected also to said boss.

2. In an automatic safety aeroplane controller, the combination with a.rotatively supported longitudinal rock-shaft with a pulley segment fixedthereon and cables connected to the segment to operate ailerons,

and a rotatively-supported transverse rockshaft with upper and lowerarms thereon and cables connected to the arms respectively to operateelevator flaps, 'of an armboss fixed on the uppermost portion of saidtransverse rock-shaft, a universal coupling connected to said arm-boss,a connecting rod section connected to said coupling, a pendulum leverpivotally suspended on said longitudinal rock-shaft with a hand-leverfixed to the pendulum lever and extending upward, a weight element fixedon the end of- WILLIAM OREN KEELIN G HARVEY A. KEELING.

Witnesses:

E. T. SILVIUs, F. M. Roman.

